Villette Jewelry at Zuzu

I took a walk around my new neighborhood, Collingswood, NJ, this weekend and came across this amazing gallery, Zuzu. I had a wonderful chat with the owner, Allison, who is a fabulous metalsmith herself, and Villette Jewelry will be sold there later this month! Zuzu is a cute little shop where jewelry is hung like art on the walls. AND there is a full metalsmith studio in the back where Allison holds classes. This may just be a match made in heaven!

watching

I am in desperate need for some new watches.... both of mine recently died their final death. I wear a watch every day, in fact, my wrist feels naked without one, and I generally buy the same watch over and over again from the Fossil outlet (a chunky leather cuff watch in either brown or black). Although I will probably end up getting the same style again, I am starting to consider getting a wrap style watch too, just to shake things up. Here are 2 of my favorites.I love the color options for the face and the leather is worn in just perfectly. (from Sundance.)
I love how old world this looks and I love that you can personalize the name plate. (Revolt70 on etsy.)

silhouette dream

How amazing is this silhouette book art?! This piece by Mia Cabana is so heartbreakingly beautiful I literally gasped when I saw it on my regular read, design sponge. Wouldn't this make an outrageous background for a jewelry photo shoot?! I'm in love...

the start of something beautiful

I was in desperate need of an oxidized bracelet to go with all of my oxidized necklaces and earrings. This was inspired by numerous images I have collected including the bracelet I recently saw in New Orleans. By default, I am not a big bracelet maker. I wear the same silver bangles just about every day, but I love this piece so much I have convinced myself to focus a little more on making bracelets. I have been having a blast lately looking high and low for bracelet inspiration. If you have any suggestions of inspiring bracelets, pass them along!

salon style wall decor

I am having family stay with me this weekend for a family wedding and I am scrambling to get my new house ready. I still have a long way to go but, oddly enough, the biggest task I have yet to tackle is hanging all of my wall decor. For years now, I have been hanging my wall decor in a salon style. The picture above is similar to how my wall decor looked in my last apartment (all black and white photos, all black frames, clustered together in rectangular form, a lot of frames in mass) but I have been thinking of changing things up. Here are a few other salon examples I am loving...
I love the cluster of alternating colored frames. They all coordinate but there is still variance. (And I love that wall color!)

I love the mixture of shapes here, especially with the bust.

I love the variation in frame shapes but also the consistency of colors and the art within the frames. This would have to be well thought out but so impactful.

I love the minimal amount of frames and I LOVE the addition of the oval mirror. (I guess it also helps that I love the striped wallpaper as the background for these frames as well... and while we are at it, I also love that old trunk being used as a table!)

I have also been thinking of buying old frames to display some of my jewelry in my workspace. Guess I really need to make a trip out to scour some of my favorite antique stores for all the old frames I will need.

cast stones

I have been obsessing over casted "stone" rings. I love how the cast of a faceted stone gives these rings a little bit of an edge.
This beauty has been on my wish list for almost 2 years now, ever since I saw this amazing piece on my coworker's finger. I have been saving my pennies and have been hoping beyond hope the etsy seller, thebeside, brings this baby back in to stock. The Art Deco design and patina are amazing!!!

This ring, by metalicious, is understated although that stone, if it were real, would be almost 2 carats! Such a wonderful, simplistic design. This ring is something you could wear every day and would look wonderful stacked with other rings.

rhinestones are a girl's budget friendly best friend

I have a bunch of weddings still coming up and I am so tempted to go a little more glam with my accessories to liven up a few of my old dresses. How cute is this Art Deco hair clip? I would love to add one to my vintage rhinestone collection. (Found on ebay.)

nola artist

While I was working at our Anthropologie store in Canal Place I discovered an amazing store in the same mall called Rhino. It is a store dedicated to local artists ran by the artists themselves. I totally fell in love with Natalie Nichols' oxidized filigree. A little bit delicate, a little bit industrial, every bit perfect to adorn my wrist!

the big easy

I'm back from New Orleans and I had such an amazing time. I am so in love with this city. I took a bunch of pictures but sadly most of them didn't turn out as most of my free time was at night. But here are a few I wanted to share...
I love the filigree wrought iron every where and the porches with ceiling fans. I couldn't help sighing every time I saw an amazing building like this... in other words, I was sighing a lot!Of course the food is amazing in New Orleans. But I also loved how restaurants really utilized the unique qualities of their building's architecture.
I took the Haunted History tour and it was amazing. Not only did I get some history and some haunting stories but I also saw some residential areas of the French Quarter that I don't think I would have normally ventured to. And no Haunted History tour would be complete without a visit to the most haunted house in New Orleans, the Lalaurie Mansion. The story about this house literally turned my stomach. If you want to read more on the house check out this site or just google the name... there are endless amounts of sites dedicated to this grotesque story.